The 29-year-old actress has received rave reviews for the role and won Best Actress at the Rome Film Festival.

However, the considerable awards buzz surrounding Johansson's performance has deflated given the Hollywood Foreign press Association's to deem her ineligible for a prize at the Golden Globes - often a barometer for Oscars success.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the decision was made several days ago and was appealed by Warner Bros. The HFPA is certainly consistent on the issue after disqualifying Andy Serkis' CGI-enhanced characterizations in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).

Joaquin Phoenix [L] and Scarlett Johansson [R] in 'Her'

Johansson is theoretically still eligible for Academy Awards and Screen Actors Guild nominations, though the HFPA's decision to likely to persuade the famously traditional thinking Academy to do the same.

Regardless, a Warner Bros representative made it clear on Tuesday (December 26, 2013) that the studio plans to proceed full steam ahead with an awards campaign for Johansson.

It shouldn't make much difference, with Cate Blanchett almost guaranteed to win Best Actress at the Oscar for her career-best performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. The bookmakers have her as the odds-on favorite, ahead of Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr Banks, Meryl Streep for August: Osage County and Amy Adams for American Hustle.